shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Wikitree?

Not disclosed - wikitree.com

Depends. Buy if you are a genealogy hobbyist happy building one shared public tree — it is 100% free with strong DNA tools. Avoid if you want privacy, data ownership, or a quick private tree app.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources: official help pages, Reddit/forum discussions, reviews, and breach reports. Snippets were often truncated, limiting verbatim quotes.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Genealogy hobbyists
  • DNA match triangulation
  • Collaborative researchers
  • Zero-budget family historians

Not for

  • Anyone wanting a private, self-owned tree
  • Privacy-sensitive users
  • People who hate strict community rules
  • Beginners wanting quick, easy results

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Data breach announced Aug 28; scope thinly documented — rotate passwords

high

No personal data ownership: your edits merge into a shared public tree

medium

Living people's visibility depends on trust levels — check privacy settings before uploading

low

Volunteer support only; no paid plan buys priority help

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free — every feature, no paywall
  • One shared global tree cuts duplicate research
  • Strong DNA integration with FamilyTreeDNA
  • Active volunteer Q&A community (G2G)
  • Users praise its reliability and source summaries

Cons

  • Community admits the site is not user friendly
  • Strict rules frustrate users wanting flexibility
  • Admitted data breach
  • Contributions are public — MyHeritage has reused them
  • 'Not for everyone' — steep learning curve and standards

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/24/2026 - 12 sources - Admitted data breach announced Aug 28; no other vulnerabilities found in sources reviewed.

official x4review x6security x2
  • Data breach admission, Founder Chris Whitten announced a data breach on Aug 28; scope is unclear in the sources reviewed.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Everything free; no paywalls at all
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Community itself calls it not user friendly
  • Feature depth: 4/5. DNA tools, sourcing, GEDCOM, collaboration
  • Support quality: 3/5. Volunteer G2G forums only, no SLA
  • Security posture: 2/5. Admitted data breach; privacy concerns raised
  • $0 Price 100% free, all features
  • Yes Free tier No paid tiers exist
  • 2 Trustpilot reviews Very small sample
  • Yes Data breach Announced Aug 28 by founder

Pricing

Free

$0

  • All features included
  • Community supported

Security

Admitted data breach announced Aug 28; no other vulnerabilities found in sources reviewed.

  • Data breach admissionFounder Chris Whitten announced a data breach on Aug 28; scope is unclear in the sources reviewed.⁷
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources: official help pages, Reddit/forum discussions, reviews, and breach reports. Snippets were often truncated, limiting verbatim quotes.

Free collaborative family tree; great DNA tools, but public data, strict rules, and a past breach.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources: official help pages, Reddit/forum discussions, reviews, and breach reports. Snippets were often truncated, limiting verbatim quotes.

Sources

  1. WikiTree: The Free Family Treewikitree.com
    official
  2. Help: The Free Family Treewikitree.com
    official
  3. WikiTree Review 2026 – Can It Fill in the Ancestry Blanks?dnaweekly.com
    review
  4. Wikitree-what is it and should I use it? : r/Genealogyreddit.com
    review
  5. Wiki Tree | WikiTree.com User Reviewsgenealogy-websites.no1reviews.com
    review
  6. The WikiTree is not very user friendly (G2G)wikitree.com
    review
  7. WikiTree admits to data breach : r/Genealogyreddit.com
    security
  8. WikiTree Announces Data Breach (DNA-Newbie)groups.io
    security
  9. Help: Ownership and Controlwikitree.com
    official
  10. Connect Your WikiTree to FamilyTreeDNAblog.familytreedna.com
    official
  11. Are there sites like WikiTree with less strict rules?facebook.com
    review
  12. Alternatives to WikiTree : r/Genealogyreddit.com
    review

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